Chapter One - Not Her Name (Maya)

“I can’t believe you’re willing to give this up,” Maya whispered, her voice reverent as she turned on her heel, taking in the brilliant room.

The far wall was made entirely of marble and it stood tall behind a row of professional-grade stainless steel appliances. Matching marble counters lined the adjacent walls with dark espresso cabinets hung above. It was the home kitchen of any chef’s dreams, which made it even more confusing as to why Jeden, Maya’s boss and heavily-renowned chef, would simply walk away.

Jeden huffed a laugh, running a hand along the swirling ivory and grey counters before pulling it back to rest upon her rounded belly. “Drew has more bedrooms. And we’re remodeling the kitchen.” She sighed, her eyes lingering on the gorgeous double oven. “But I will miss it.”

“Well, you’re only just next door… if you ever miss it too much,” Maya hinted, keeping her eyes averted.

“You know I’ll take you up on that,” Jeden said, her voice kind. “But I think between being my new ride to work and little Gus being my best friend, you’ll be sick of me before I ever manage to sneak back in here.”

Maya laughed, remembering the day, shortly after accepting her new role in Jeden’s kitchen, when her three kids had been discovered hiding out in Maya’s office due to Gus’s antics. It was against policy, but her childcare had fallen through and Maya had no other options. Instead of sending the four of them packing, as Jeden was well within her rights to do, Jeden had chosen instead to show grace and accommodate Maya’s needs. Furthermore, she’d made it a point to stop in at Maya’s office and visit with them whenever they were hanging out at the restaurant. The kids idolized her, more so than any of the family they’d known before.

Three years slipped by in the blink of an eye and Maya shook her head, knowing eight-year-old Gus was undoubtedly causing some new sort of catastrophic mayhem at his elementary school at that very moment. “He’s everybody’s best friend.”

“Oof,” Jeden sighed. “A dagger, straight to the heart.”

Maya rolled her eyes, finally turning to look Jeden straight on. She was a tall woman. Strong and fierce, with long, thick brown hair and soft hazel eyes set in a slightly rounded face. Her eyes were partially hidden behind wide framed eye glasses, and further obscured by the squint she employed to make out Maya standing only a few feet away. Despite her limitations, however, Jeden always had the ability to see much more than her eyesight allowed. It was how Maya landed a job in Jeden’s kitchen with no prior experience, and why Maya was now standing in her freshly mortgaged home, keys still gripped tightly in her palm. It didn’t feel real, and yet here it was, laid out around her in brick and linoleum and marble.

“You won’t believe what he told me yester-“ Maya froze when the front door opened around the corner, immediately forgetting the ending of whatever Gus story she had begun to tell. Why hadn’t she locked the door? Because Jeden came in behind her, Maya grimaced. She knew better.

She glanced around then grabbed a rolling pin from the wall, the closest weapon at hand, and stepped in front of Jeden. She may be significantly shorter than her friend, but at least she could see an attacker clearly.

“Call the police,” Maya breathed, “somebody is breaking in.”

“Maya,” Jeden said, dropping a hand on Maya’s shoulder, but the rest of her words were lost to the sound of booming laughter at the entrance. There was more than one intruder and clearly, they were confident if they were willing to break in mid-morning and laugh about it. Alarms screamed through Maya’s mind. She’d known this type of arrogance. How dangerous it was. Her vision tunneled, her fingers tingled, her shoulders tensing for a fight.

“Stay back,” Maya whispered, knocking off Jeden’s hand as she raised her makeshift weapon. And then a body moved around the corner wall and Maya acted on instinct, flinging the rolling pin through the air. The first intruder ducked with a shout and then a satisfying thunk sounded when the pin found its mark in the face of the man behind him.

The shadowed man clapped his hands over his face, shouting indecipherably as his partner straightened, raising his own arms high, a covered serving tray bowing dangerously between his hands. “It’s me, Maya. It’s Drew.”

“Oh no,” Maya groaned. She glanced back, an apology on her tongue, but Jeden was still frowning at the men before them.

“No complaints from me. Throw something else,” Jeden said, raising her brows at the men.

“You’re my wife,” Drew stated dryly, eyeing Jeden.

“And you weren’t asked to come inside.”

“We’re the welcoming committee!”

“Welcoming committees don’t break and enter.”

“We brought a casserole.”

“And you couldn’t knock?”

“The door was unlocked!”

“Tell it to a judge.”

“Jeden!” Drew cried, his tone one of betrayal.

Maya’s eyes bounced between the couple as they bickered, then she stepped closer to Jeden, leaning in to whisper, “I don’t plan to press charges.”

“Shh,” Jeden whispered back. “I’m enjoying this.”

A groan sounded from the hunched man, effectively ending their conversation. “I think my face is broke,” he whined. “What the hell was that?”

The tiny hairs along the back of Maya’s neck stood on end. The speech was garbled, but the voice… it pulled at memories long since buried.

“A rolling pin,” Drew mumbled, stepping over the offending item to lay his casserole on the counter.

“And you should be thankful it wasn’t worse, Maverick Lamont,” Jeden added. “What were you two thinking barging in here?”

“I haven’t knocked in ages-“ Drew began.

“You knew it was being sold today!”

“And I knew you were inside!” Drew continued, though the sound was lost to the ringing in Maya’s ears after Jeden named the second intruder. She’d known Drew for years, but Maverick, the man she’d thought to be a stranger… she’d known him far longer.

He chose that moment to straighten, eyes she knew to be a deep brown blinking open as he rubbed at the reddening goose egg on his temple, then widening fully when they clashed with Maya’s.

He’d always been tall, but she’d forgotten just how tall as her head tilted back. He was a veritable mountain of a man, frozen and tense. He’d carried a lean strength in his youth, but in the years that had separated them, he’d filled out, stretching the fabric of his shirt tight across his broad chest. He had the same chestnut hair, in the same short, thick style, but the full beard covering his jaw was new. She didn’t want to notice it, but she couldn’t help but reluctantly appreciate the fact that it worked. He’d been beautiful before, but this was something else. There was a gruffness to him. A grittiness she didn’t recognize, in the coldness of his glare and every rigid line on his face - but despite everything, she still felt that undercurrent of tension that always existed in his presence. Anger and fire and need and pride, all warring for dominance as she tried to reconcile the Maverick she’d once known to the man standing before her.

“Maya… do you two know each other?” Jeden cautiously asked, breaking the spell and giving Maya an excuse to tear her gaze away.

“I- he- well,” Maya rambled, not sure where she should start, her voice trailing off as long-buried memories resurfaced unbidden, landing like blows with the weight of the emotional baggage they carried. Their first kiss outside the gymnasium. The rings he’d bought before college. A long hallway — and red lipstick on a white collar.

“Maya?” Jeden repeated, her voice concerned as she stepped closer.

“Why is she calling you Maya?” Maverick snapped, his tone hard and his eyes laser focused, never once leaving her face.

Maya squared her shoulders. “It’s my name.”

“No, it’s not.”

“It is now,” she clipped, refusing to feel shame. She’d done nothing wrong. Maverick raised a single brow in response, his expression one of utter judgment and furious disbelief.

“She’s lying to you,” he finally said, pivoting on the spot to address Jeden. The muscle in his cheek flexed as he gritted his teeth.

“Watch yourself, Maverick,” Jeden answered, her voice arctic.

“Maya is not her name-“

“Do you think I don’t do background checks on my employees?” Jeden stepped forward, maneuvering Maya back. “That I don’t follow up on resumes? That I allow myself to be taken for a fool?”

Drew winced. He glanced once at Jeden’s belly before snapping, “back off, man.”

“No, you just don’t understand what you’re dealing with,” Maverick continued, his voice desperate. “This woman lies and- and she cheats and manipulates. She doesn’t care about who she hurts as long as she gets what she wants. Everything is a game. A ruse. You cannot trust her. She’s probably even made a pass at Drew already. She needs to go.” His eyes landed on Maya once more and for a moment, all she saw was the suffering buried in his dilated, panicked pupils — echoing the barbs of pain she felt sink into her skin with each horrible word he spewed. “She’s not welcome here,” he finished, holding her stare.

“That’s about all I can take. Drew?” Jeden said, her tone conveying her meaning clear enough that Drew moved immediately. He wasn’t as big as Maverick, but he was determined, and he quickly shepherded the big man back out the front door.

Silence rang loud in the halls after they left, and Maya struggled to make sense of what had just occurred. Was she in shock? It couldn’t have been more than five minutes since they’d walked in the door and she felt like she’d been rung through the full spectrum of human emotion in the span of a blink.

“Maya, honey,” Jeden began.

The sound prompted Maya to jolt, breaking free of her sudden paralysis and whipping around on the spot to meet Jeden’s confusion.

“I would never make a pass at Drew,” she said quickly.

“I know that.”

“And for the rest… I can explain.”

“No.” Jeden shook her head. “I’m sure you can, but I don’t need it. I’ve known both you and Maverick for years and you were not the one who just acted outside their character. That was an emotional response, I doubt he even meant half of what he said.”

“Half is more than enough,” Maya said, twisting her hands anxiously.

“Half would still be over the top.”

“You don’t even know what happened. I deserve a lot of it,” Maya admitted.

“Nobody deserved whatever the hell that just was. And I wasn’t lying about how thorough I am with the background checks, Maya. I leave no stones unturned. I know who you were… and who your husband was.”

Maya squeaked, horrified. Embarrassment making her cheeks heat swiftly, though she still held Jeden’s gaze. “Then why?”

“I liked you,” Jeden shrugged. “And I still do. But I understand if you’ve changed your mind after that display.” She sighed, glancing back towards the door. “Maverick lives here. A few streets over, but still in the same community. And he serves on the HOA board with Drew - though it’s pretty hands-off nowadays. I never even considered that you might have history, I’m honestly shocked the two of you hadn’t crossed paths in the last three years. But if you’d like to back out of the purchase, we can probably still make it happen. I won’t fight you on it.”

Maya was already shaking her head before Jeden finished. “No, this house is perfect. I’ll never find a deal like this again. We need it.” She took a slow breath, building her courage. She’d allowed herself to be little more than a puppet for years. Bowing to the whims of her parents. Her husband. But she’d taken a vow the day she’d left to put herself first for once - and this house was what she wanted. She was smart, and a smart person wouldn’t pass up on an opportunity this good. The kids would be in a better school district, it got them out of their shitty apartment, and it was in a community where they could actually make friends. Build a home. No, she would not bend to a man, ever again. Not even to the ghost of one she’d once loved.

“Maverick and I have successfully avoided each other for ten years. This was… unfortunate, but now we know and we can go right back to avoiding. Everything is fine.”

Jeden nodded, though there was a certain look in her eye, something that echoed the uncertainty Maya felt below the surface; but then she grabbed her bag and stepped towards the door. “I’ll go to give you time alone to sort things out… but just know, Maya, I’m on your side, alright? You can always talk to me.”

“I know,” Maya answered, smiling softly. She often felt that Jeden was the only person in the world that she could talk to; but once she’d locked up behind her friend, Maya slid silently to the ground on shaking legs, dropped her head into her hands, and cried.